{"id":703624,"date":"2026-01-18T05:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T05:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/703624\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T05:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T05:56:09","slug":"frances-ice-dance-champions-locked-in-public-feud-ahead-of-winter-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/703624\/","title":{"rendered":"France\u2019s ice dance champions locked in public feud ahead of Winter Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

With this year\u2019s Winter Olympics only weeks away, organizers, athletes and international media are preparing to travel to northern Italy. Against this backdrop, a public dispute involving France\u2019s Olympic figure skating team has emerged at an awkward moment, drawing unwanted attention to the country\u2019s athletes in the run-up to the Milano Cortina Games 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

France\u2019s 2022 Olympic ice dance champions, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, have become embroiled in a highly public feud that has spilled into the legal arena and reportedly cost one of them a role as a television commentator for the upcoming Winter Games, as multiple French outlets report<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Papadakis released a book on January 15 in which she addresses what she describes as the darker realities of elite figure skating, including allegations that her long-time skating partner was abusive and emotionally controlling. The two began skating together as children and went on to become one of the most decorated ice dance duos in history, winning five World Championship titles, Olympic gold in Beijing and silver at the PyeongChang Games four years earlier.<\/p>\n

In excerpts published by French media ahead of the book\u2019s release, Papadakis describes an \u201cunbalanced\u201d relationship in which she felt \u201cunder his grip,\u201d accusing Cizeron of being \u201ccontrolling\u201d and \u201cdemanding.\u201d In her book Pour ne pas Disparaitre (\u201cSo as not to Disappear\u201d), she argues that her experience reflects broader, systemic issues within the figure skating world, portraying her former partnership as emblematic of a deeply flawed system.<\/p>\n

Cizeron has rejected the allegations and accused Papadakis of engaging in a \u201csmear campaign.\u201d He said the book includes claims he never made and asserted that the accusations were serious enough for him to instruct his lawyers to seek an immediate halt to what he described as false statements.<\/p>\n

Speaking to French reporters on January 16, Papadakis said<\/strong><\/a> she had been removed from her role as a commentator for NBC\u2019s coverage of the upcoming Games, which she attributes directly to Cizeron\u2019s legal actions. \u201cFor people who speak out against systems of oppression, it never goes very well,\u201d Papadakis stated.<\/p>\n

She also denied suggestions that the book\u2019s release was deliberately timed to coincide with Cizeron\u2019s return to Olympic competition. Papadakis acknowledged that such an interpretation was understandable from the outside, but explained that the publication date had been set well before the announcement of his comeback. \u201cBut the publication date was already planned before the announcement of his return [with his new skating partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Fournier Beaudry, who previously competed for Canada, recently obtained French citizenship, clearing the way for the pair to represent France at the Olympics. They are expected to be among the leading contenders at the upcoming Winter Games.<\/p>\n

By Nazrin Sadigova<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With this year\u2019s Winter Olympics only weeks away, organizers, athletes and international media are preparing to travel to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[23355,7503,7502,2000,299,36,23356,23359,466,23358,23357,23354],"class_list":{"0":"post-703624","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-analysis-of-azerbaijan","9":"tag-azerbaijan","10":"tag-baku","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-france","14":"tag-important-news-of-azerbaijan","15":"tag-international-experts","16":"tag-interviews","17":"tag-interviews-with-azerbaijani-analysts","18":"tag-news-from-baku","19":"tag-news-of-azerbaijan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115914564326397534","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}